NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Welcome to “Books on Deck."
As the nation waits until it can turn its lonely eyes to the next baseball hero, we are left with many remnants of the past. Classic broadcasts of yesteryear have been routinely running on radios and TVs all over the country and baseball fans are even getting their fixes with overnight broadcasts of the CPBL and the KBO from Asia.
There’s also no better time than the present to pop up some windows to get some fresh air as the weather warms up and crack open a book to read about some of your favorites and learn about some others. This is where “Books on Deck” can help.
Each week from now until the start of the 2020 baseball season, Mets radio announcer Wayne Randazzo will be highlighting a new release or soon-to-be released baseball book, and our debut episode begins with MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, who is writing the definitive autobiography on Mets legend, David Wright, appropriately titled “The Captain."
DiComo takes a deep dive dissecting Wright’s journey from a decent prospect to one of the game’s biggest stars and from New York City icon to a years-long physical battle just to get back on the field, but nothing stands out to Wright like the one thing that eluded him the most.
“When he looks back on his career, I genuinely believe that what disappoints him the most is that he didn’t win a World Series for the Mets,” DiComo said. “He would give away any of his individual accomplishments in a heartbeat for a World Series title.”
While Wright didn’t get to win that title, he did capture the hearts of every Mets fan that ever got to see him play simply by stepping up and becoming the leader that his first major league managers, Art Howe and Willie Randolph, knew he could.
“The team wanted him to develop into that guy,” DiComo said. “You’ll read that in the book. He didn’t just snap his fingers and become that. Over the years, that’s when you really start to see him blossom as the leader we know him as today.”
For Mets fans that saw David Wright play his entire career in orange and blue, and a little bit of black (Sorry, Howie), “The Captain” will be the ultimate go-to guide into the mind of the captain.
DiComo covered Wright through most of his career with the Mets. He is considered a co-author with Wright on the project, but the writer makes clear to Wayne “this is his story." He says the book comes from some 20 formal interviews with Wright and another 40 interviews with others who have been part of his life and career.
The much anticipated “The Captain: A Memoir” is scheduled to come out this October, published by Dutton.